INTERNATIONAL BUNKERING TERMINAL / MULTI-USER LIQUID TERMINAL
International Bunkering Terminal (IBT)
Cochin Port has initiated project planning to develop a multi-user liquid terminal in the Puthuvypeen SEZ area to handling import of bunker fuel, LPG and Crude Oil.The port being located adjacent to the busiest international sea routes is required to meet the increasing demand for supply of bunkers to the vessels plying in the international routes and also those calling at the Port. The Cochinport prposed to create the basic infrastructure of a multi-user liquid terminal and commence the bunkering operations through PPP format.

The Cochin Port in the role of the principal developer has commenced the project initiatives to set up the first Port Based Special Economic Zone in India. The Ministry of Commerce, has notified Vallarpadam and Puthuvypeen areas within the port limit as two separate Port Based Special Economic Zones. . The port is currently establishing the infrastructure and amenities for the zone.

Location Vallarpadam & Puthuvypeen

Land Area 401 ha (115.25 ha at Vallarpadam & 285.84 ha at Puthuvypeen)

• Distribution Park including Free Trade Warehousing. The Distribution Park can leverage the proximity of ICTT and its direct access to network of National Highways, Railways and National Waterways for the activities of consolidation/distribution of cargo including Free Trade Warehousing.

Investment Total Investment: Rs.7500 crores

Execution Public-Private participation

Time Frame 2011-2012

WILLINGDON ISLAND- NEW PROJECTS

In line with the port development strategies, the important present port activities (crude and container handling) will migrate to the Vallarpadam and Puthuvypeen areas, as these locations provide the optimal boundary conditions for further development. The remaining conventional cargo handling activities (POL, dry bulk, break bulk and other liquid bulk) will be located at Willingdon Island and the present liquid jetties. Willingdon Island and the present liquid berths along Ernakulam Channel will be upgraded to accommodate the remaining conventional cargo handling activities and to meet the future requirements for efficient cargo handling. The facilities are being upgraded through modernization of Mattancherry Berth, Providing new 110 KV Power supply, new trucking terminal and provision addition of new cargo handling equipment.
A Business District at the southern end of Willingdon Island is planned . This will accommodate warehouse and office activities which is expected to enlarge as the area will be a supply chain nodal point of the future.

The emergence of Kochi port as a transhipment hub for India will become a reality within a year as the construction work for the first phase of the international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) project is progressing rapidly at Vallarpadam.

Vallarpadam, once developed, will make Kochi a key centre in the shipping world, thereby reducing India’s dependence on foreign ports for transshipment. The ICTT project will be the largest single player among the container terminals planned in India and the first to operate in a SEZ. One of the essential requirements of a hub port is that it should be adjacent to the trunk sea trade route for the minimum diversion of mother vessels, so as to reduce unproductive voyage and port time.

Kochi, being adjacent to the trunk sea trade route and linked to the hinterland through a well-developed system of national highways and rail connections, is an ideal location for the development of hub trade.

A visit to the project site revealed that the area is bustling with construction activity. which included piling, soil improvement, sand piling, sheet piling, building work, fabrication of piling gauges, casting of prefab panels, manufacture of paver blocks, and so on. If the present pace pf work is sustained, the first phase of the project is expected to be commissioned on schedule.

Steady pace

Speaking to Business Line at the construction site, Mr Suresh Joseph, General Manager, DP World, Kochi, said that the construction activities that had commenced in January are progressing at the right speed, without any hurdles. “So far we have completed 28 per cent of the work and by December, we expect to reach 45 per cent”, he said. With this pace, he hoped that the first phase of the project would be ready by November 2009.

Simplex Infrastructures Ltd, Kolkata, is the civil contractor engaged by DP World for the work. The project will use close of 9,000 tonnes of steel and 11,000 tonnes of cement. Mr Joseph said that 80 per cent of the steel had arrived at the site.

The ICTT project, which will be set up on 115 hectares of unencumbered land, is proposed to be developed in three phases. Phase IA will be developed with 600 metres of quay and is designed to handle one million TEUs. This phase is expected to cost Rs 1,300 crore and there has been a considerable increase in project costs due to cost escalations, said Mr Joseph.

Later, Phase I B will developed by adding another 300 metres of quay with the capacity to handle additional half a million TEUs. The second phase will have 900 metres of quay and total quay length for the ICTT project would be 1,800 metres, with the capacity to handle 3 million TEUs.

Phase IA of the project will be supported by six Super post-Panamax cranes, 3,500 ground slots (including 450 reefer points), 15 eco RTGs, 5 reach-stackers, etc. The terminal facilities and processes have been designed to accept and service the largest container ships afloat today, such as the Emma Maersk.
Road, rail connectivity

It will also have two rail handling sidings capable of handling 12 trains per day and five km of road. Provisions have also been made to locate a security scanner to screen containers inside the terminal.

A new 8-km electrified rail link with a capacity to carry 15 trains each way will connect Vallarpadam ICTT to the main lines of Southern Railway at Edappally. Likewise, the new 18-km four-lane National Highway provides surface connectivity to NH17 and NH47.

While the first connects to the Konkan region, the latter connects to the growing hinterland in the South, Central and the East.

Apart from this, the development of the coastal highway will provide additional access to the two national highways, thus ensuring 100 per cent road connectivity.

Asked about the exact date on the commissioning of the project, Mr Joseph said that the authorities expect to shift the activities from Willingdon Island from November 1, 2009 provided the infrastructure support, including road and rail connectivity and dredging requirements to berth mother vessels at the terminal, are ready by that time.

"We will be ready by November next year as the Port Chairman has given an assurance that all these facilities will be ready by the time. We are going ahead as per this schedule", he said.

He referred to the proximity to East-West trade routes as the greatest advantage for the Vallarpadam ICTT. It has the shortest deviation from both the Suez and the Middle East routes, compared to any other port in India. Besides saving on steaming time and costs, the proximity saves considerable time and cost for cargoes originating or terminating in the sub-continent.

The containers landed at the terminal will have a multi-modal option to transit to the hinterland. The terminal will have the facility to berth a mainline vessel and a feeder, together with the possibility of hot-seat exchange of boxes. From a feeder, a container could be directly put on to the mainline vessel, or vice-versa. This will result in better transit times for the shipper.

The existing container terminal at Kochi, operated by DP World, has excellent connectivity to the ports on the West coast. Tuticorin provides support on the East coast. Plans are on to connect Haldia, Visakapatnam and Chennai, thereby ensuring holistic coastal support to the India hinterland, he said.

Moreover the development of ICTT at Vallarpadam has seen a flurry of activity in commissioning container freight stations, empty container parks, logistics parks, warehousing and the like, that have never been seen in Kochi till now, Mr Suresh added.

Naming ceremony: Officials from Greek company Hellespont Steamship Corporation officials and Cochin Shipyard Ltd in front of two platform supply vessels under construction at the shipyard in Kochi. The vessels, being made for the Greek company, were named Hellespont Daring and Hellespont Dawn at a function here on Friday.

Kochi, Nov. 21 The public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd is in the process of constructing 20 offshore vessels, valued at Rs 3,000 crore, for European and American clients.

The projects being undertaken excludes the indigenous aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, which is also under construction, Commodore M. Jitendran, Chairman and Managing Director, CSL, said.

He was speaking on the occasion of the naming ceremony of two platform supply vessels for the Greek company Hellespont Steamship Corporation here on Friday.

He said that the yard was able to achieve the highest ever turnover of Rs 967 crore during the year 2007-08.

The profit after tax was also the highest ever in the year at Rs 93.85 crore.

The two platform supply vessels were named as Hellespont Dawn and Hellespont Daring.

The vessels are of the popular UT-755-LN design for the offshore industry.

The vessel is designed for satisfying the specific demands of transport of deck cargo, pipes, liquid cargo, cement, barite and so on and unloading to rigs and production platforms, pipe laying barges etc.

They are the workhorse of the offshore oil field industry, which acts as a lifeline carrying all operational supplies and stores to far-off offshore installations.

As the offshore industry moves to deeper waters, demand for such advanced vessels is expected to rise.

The ships are built and classified under the most stringent rules and regulations and are classed for unnamed engine room and dynamic positioning Grade I.

The vessels also satisfies CLEAN notation of DNV which signifies high standards of environmental safety.

Small ship unit

The CMD also pointed out that the small ship division of the yard, which had received the approval from the Government, is expected to be commissioned next year.

The yard proposes to set up the division for constructing small commercial vessels for international owners.

The facility assumes importance as CSL would have to allocate a major part of its infrastructure to the construction of aircraft carrier in the coming years.

Dry dock

The other proposal under consideration of the yard is a new dry dock to take up repair/upgradation of high-end ships, including large oil rigs and aircraft carriers. The new dock will be larger than the present dock and would help the yard to reach a higher level of growth and also acquire the expertise in niche areas.

Vallarpadam terminal to be made key catalyst of future trade in India’

Mr Mohammed Sharaf, Chief Executive Officer of DP World, has said that creating a transhipment facility such as international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam will definitely benefit the growing trade in south India.

Close to 60 per cent of the trade volumes generated out of south India get transhipped on to mainline vessels calling at hub ports such as Colombo and Kochi is strategically placed in terms of geography for quick access to the major trade routes, he said at an interaction with media persons here.

Port location

Mr Sharaf, who was here in connection with a visit to the Indian sub-continent region, said that the emergence of ICTT at Vallarpadam, the first of its scale and kind within in India, will play a key role in making Kochi a strategic port location to the shipping community.

Indian subcontinent region is one of DP World’s strong propellers of growth in the future and the company is committed to making ICTT a key catalyst of future trade in India, he said. Being adjacent to main east-west sea trade route, he said ICTT will assist the shipping world by reducing India’s dependence on foreign ports for transhipment thereby reducing overall costs.

Work on schedule

Mr Sharaf also clarified that there will not be any delay in commissioning of the project on account of the economic slowdown and the construction of the Phase I A (600 metres of quay length being developed) will be completed by end 2009.

The work at the site is going on at a hectic pace to meet the time schedule. Work on the rail connectivity has also commenced where ICTT is going to be connected to the mainland by one of the longest railway bridge tracks.

One of the strong advantages of ICTT will be the basket of multimodal options available to exporters and importers connecting to the transhipment hub when compared to the current scenario where rail/road transportation is not an option, he said.

Some of the major global container shipping lines have shownkeen interest in having their services call at ICTT.

However, he declined to divulge the names of those shipping lines that have agreed to commence their voyage.

The company is also looking at starting supporting business such as container rail service once the Vallarpadam project is fully developed.

He pointed out that there are plans to start train service from Vallarpadam to various ports in the country as part of the company’s long-term strategy.

Construction of the quay going on at a hectic pace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kochi: The current economic slowdown experienced worldwide would have no impact or delay the commissioning of the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam, said Mohammed Sharaf, CEO of DP World.

Talking to reporters here last night, Mr. Sharaf said the construction of the Phase 1 A, that is development of 600 metres of quay length, would be over by the end of next year.

Terming the ICTT as the major driver of growth in the southern parts of the country, Mr. Sharaf noted that nearly 60 per cent of the trade volumes generated out of the southern regions of the country get transhipped onto mainline vessels calling at hub ports like Colombo. Kochi is in an advantageous position because of its strategic location and is easily accessible to the major trade routes because of the closeness to the International maritime line.

Key role

Mr. Sharaf who was here in connection with a visit to the Indian subcontinent region said that the emergence of the ICTT at Vallarpadam, the first of its scale and kind within in India, would play a key role in making Kochi a strategic port location to the shipping community. Indian subcontinent region is one of DP World’s strong propellers of growth in the future and the company is committed to making the ICTT a key catalyst of future trade in India, he said.

Being adjacent to main east-west sea trade route, he said the ICTT will assist the shipping world by reducing India’s dependence on foreign ports for transhipment thereby reducing overall costs. With major gateways on the west coast becoming crowded, new gateways like the ICTT are much needed to give the trade a service they can rely on.

Rail connectivity

Giving details of the ICTT project, he said that the construction of the quay was going on at a hectic pace to meet the time schedule.

Work on the rail connectivity has also commenced where the ICTT is going to be connected to the mainland by one of the longest railway bridge tracks the country has ever seen. One of the strong advantages of ICTT will be the basket of multimodal options available to exporters and importers connecting to the transhipment hub when compared to the current scenario where rail/road transportation is not an option, he said. Some of the major global container shipping lines have shown a keen interest in having their services call at the ICTT. However, he declined to divulge the names of those shipping lines agreed to commence its voyage. The company is also looking at starting supporting business like container rail service once the Vallarpadam project is fully developed. He pointed out that there are plans to start train service from Vallarpadam to various ports in the country as part of the company’s long term strategy.

Kochi, a commercial and trading hub, located in the south Indian state of Kerala, is increasingly appearing on the radar of real estate investors, occupiers and developers. By possessing an enviable mix of excellent connectivity, solid infrastructure, abundant skilled labour, tourist destinations and low operating costs, Kochi has become one of India’s most dynamic and highly rated Tier III cities. The city’s dynamic economy, strong leadership and regard for the environment bode well for its sustainable growth.

By offering favourable prospects across all real estate sectors and relatively high levels of market transparency, Kochi has increasingly become a favoured destination for those active in the Indian real estate market.

In our Real Estate Market Maturity Index, which scores Tier III cities in India on the basis of real estate market transparency and overall volumes of office, retail and hotel market activity, Kochi tied for first place with Chandigarh, ahead of other well-known cities such as Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Nagpur and Mangalore. The new business parks, shopping malls and hotels which dot the Kochi landscape are transforming the city and the lives of its citizens.

We are pleased to share with you our publication from the World Winning Cities research programme: Kochi - India’s Rising Urban Star. The report examines the economy, business environment and real estate market of Kochi and assesses the risks and opportunities in each of the 4 major sectors of the real estate market: offices, retail, hotels and residential